Fabricated gear and method of making the same



May 9, 1950 B. E. HOOVER FABRICATED GEAR AND METHOD OF'MAKING THE SAME Filed July 27, 1946 F. 5 6 4 3 I 8 W Y j f m z W QQ I E l N w 7 7 J M w M 2 5 E "0 m I Patented May 9, 1950 [Inuit'minister;l'miitvaukee;lwisl asslgiibrfltg'il f f l r LakesideBridge'fla steel 00., Milwaukeegwis ar -co pora ion?! Wim hyr T1 1 1 Thisin'i ''r'i't'i'iim relates to 'gears andiiiefersimore'. possible the use of low.-'c'arbon"steel*foriall ut the fiartieularlyto'improvements:in' gears' and the rimsbf thegears; T. methods for making the same. U :f "1-1. With the above andzotherbbjets-in viewiwhich' he past-gears have generally been;.made will appear as the description proceedsP-this ill-:1 fro eastg'ear Iolanks. There 'areemany obe 5 vention resides in "the'novel constructiom'comj'ecti' 'able'features to this methoihowever; chief bination'and arrangement ofjartss'ubstantially ambfig lwhichqmefhiglii costli'of patternszandnthe as hereinafter described-,zarid morep'articularly great delays" otten experienced ixi ithe making of defined byfthe appended claims, "it being underpatterns and-thelcastingiofitheigears. stbod that"su'ch'ehangesain the?precise embodi; Fcr' exanible, comparatively fewzifoundriessare 10, ment of the hereindisclosedrinvention' may capable of casting blanks 'foi any but small or memade as 'come within the 'sco'peof'ithe lclai sgs diiiifi sized: gears -and theicastin i of: blankstfor The accom anyin 'drawin illustratesitwo'comfi large s'ize gears requires muc'h'specializedequipplete examples of. thephysical embodiment of. m'entg Mofeove'rg 'since :gearsviof "relativelyiarg'e the invention constructed in accordance'witli the size are,:as 'a rulepcustomqobsgto;be'cast"a#rel best modes so far devised" forthe"practical-Yap; at' j w: .tiiries;;:1;hexfgreafii expiense; involved in plication of the princip1es" thereof,'an"d in which:

making""'liatternsicannot:beJWritten tom over 1.1a Figure "1 is..aplan viewofa geanproducedain large: number of castings; as: wouldiber possible on accordance with the method of this invention smaller' gears turnedfout in quantities: r ,1: FigureZi's a sectional view of such-aggear'taken Also, cast gear blanks are likely to containblow: 20 along the line-2+2 in Figure-17 holes which will wfeakens' them"unpredictably, Figure 3 is an exploded perspectiveview of' -the causing ieiientualiiailure under load orj if the de;.- Dartsirom which the gear or-gear blank'is-fabriiect iiswdiscoverediadoringxthew machining; proccated; and v ess,'-c'ompellin'g rejection tofrblanksswhich already "Figure 4 'is a fragmentarysectional view illus havereiiresented'iafisizeable investmentz in time, trating a slig tly modified construction; laborland-materialsi Furthermorepthe excessive "R e ng nowto the accompanying drawing,

weight of.'a castagean makesitlcostly:and'difiicult in which 'like" numerals indicate like :parts o handle, bothpdurin machjnjng and i final a throughoutthe several views, the numeral I desig embly z cz' 1;; na'tes generally a'webwhichispreferablyformed iwithztheseand *othernobjectionszto .castgear 5; from a sin e'pi f"Sheet-material cut to P blanksin-xmindpitis an: object kof this invention c n ral-portion 2-and a=-pluralityi-of radia to provide a:method]Otfabricatinggears or wheels Spokes 3 eX e ing outwardlytherefrom. from. plate and istripmaterials welded-togethen; Y substantially t b r s b y nded; x:::Another;..objectrof: this inventionuresidesvpin the s I y-W to n a po i n 2 of theiw'eb provision of 'anzinexpensive' method for'quickly 35 to d pos t W b-generally normalto the axis producing a'gearilblanks without .rentailing theznse of th ub. hole-2! of a size lto e e llb ofi foundryfacilities.v L131, .r-i Y 4 pr er ycl t htough the centralportion l isstillsanother objectebfathisym n 1011:1'8Sld65 in of the Web to enable;positigning oi the, webin the provisioncof: an: inexpensiye fabricated;. gear any desired location between tlieends of-the hub. blankor wheel:whiclncanzbe;producedwith; weld: 49 obvi0usly,the Web may be bond d flatwise again t ing. equipment alone and :which vwillgbe equaljin One endeof the hub ifdesirei-or-short.hubifoiiine strength and :durability to acast gear ;blank, or 1118 Sect s 4' m y l e-wel ed to opposite, sides 'of t. f m ll w. t; w thecheamandiri idlrand m te tween the web spokes 3 with their flat sides at right angles to the plane of the web. The notch 6 in each rib thus receives the central portion 2 of the web, so that the hub end of the rib may abut against the cylindrical side of the" hub 4, to which it is bonded as by means of welds I. 1

The rim or felly 8 may be made up from one or more pieces of strip or plate material, or a forged ring may be used if it is desired to out high strength teeth in the rim. In the embodiment shown; this rimris formed of two strips 9 and I0 bent to the desired radius of the wheel and bonded together at their abutting ends as at H and 12 to form a circular felly.

The rim 8 is bonded to the outer ends of the",

spokes and ribs to complete the assembly, and gear teeth 13 may then be cut in the felly in a known manner after turning down of the rimwelding the hub to theweb, inside the central aperture thereof; setting the fiat thrust resisting ribs in place on the hub between the spokes of the web and welding the ribs to the hub; and

v w'eldingthe rim to the outer extremities of the and hub with the fiat sides of the ribs substantially perpendicular to the planes of the sides of the spokes and intersected by said planes, and with the central portion of the web received in notches in the hubends of the ribs.

2. A fabricated gear blank or wheel comprising: a tubular hub; a flatweb including a central portion having an aperture therein of a'size to fit the exterior of the hub, and a plurality of spokes radiating from said central portion of the web, means bonding the hub to the web in- "side' said apertured central portion of the web;

spokes and ribs to complete the fabrication of the blank or wheel.--Teeth may then be cut in the rim to finishthe gear.

This method of making gears or gear blanks also lends itself to the production of gears,

pulleys or wheels in quantity, for which purpose it will beunderstood that suitable fixtures are employed to hold. the various parts in their proper positions for welding.

A gear or wheel'produced by this process will be comparatively light, yet rigid and durable. Its structural characteristics can be readily calculated and'controlled by selection of the size and type of material, by theshape of the web and spokes, and by heat treatment'of the ma-i terials- Torsion forces are absorbed by the web spokes 3, while the ribs 5 impart rigidity to the gear or wheel and absorb thrust forces.

*From the foregoing description taken together with the accompanying drawing it will be'readily apparent that practice of the improved method of this invention produces an exceptionally strong but light weight gear or wheel which can be made more quickly and cheaply than acastingand which will overcome many of the objeo ticnabl features of a cast gear blank or wheel.

What Iclaim as my invention is:

1. A'fabricated gear blank or wheel comprisingj a" tubular hub; a web cut from a single piecedf plate material to provide a central i portion having an aperture of a size to receive andwith the sides of the spokes lying in planes. a

substantially normal tothe axis of the hubpa felly formed of strip material bent to circular shape and having its ends bonded together in abutting relationship; means bonding said felly tween 7 the felly and hub intermediate a felly formed of bent strip material; means bonding the felly to the ends of the web spokes so that the felly provides a rim for the wheel; and radial ribs intermediate the spokes extending. between-the hub and felly and bonded thereto at its ends, said ribs comprising substantially fiat rectangular strips set transversely to the web and having longitudinal notches at their hub ends to receive the central portion of the web so that the endsof thestrips abut against the hub for bonding thereto.

3. A fabricated gear comprising: a substantially cylindrical hub; a web made from a single piece of plate metal cut to form acentral portion having an aperture therein of a size to fit theexe. terior of the hub, and a'plurality of spokes radiating from said central portion; means bonding said hub to the web inside the aperturethereof and with the web spokes lying in a plane normal to the hub axis and between the ends of the hub;

a felly formed from strip material bent .to circular shape and having its ends welded together; means bonding said felly to the outer ends of the spokes; substantially flat radial ribs, bonded at their ends;

to the hub and felly respectively between saidv spokes and with the fiat sides of the ribs set transversely to the plane of the web; and gear teeth on the felly. I

4. Aifabricated gear blank or wheel compris-i ing: a web cut from asingle sheet-of flat material to provide radial spokes; a hub bonded to the central portion of said web; a plurality of strips bent and bonded together to collectively form a circular rim; means bonding said rim to the ends'of the spokes; and substantially flat ribs disposed at right angles to the Web and bonded to thehub and rim intermediate said spokes, each: of said ribs having its laterally outer end circumferentially spaced from itsadjacent spokes.

5. A fabricated wheel comprising: a rim; a hub; and means joining the rim and hub together in concentric relation to one another, said means including a plurality of spokes having their fiat 'sides generally transverse to the hub axis and bonded to both th rim and hub, and a plurality of fiat substantially radial ribs between said spokes and bonded at their opposite ends to the rim and hub with their flat sides substantially parallel to the hub axis and transverse to the flat sides of the spokes,'said ribs having their outer ends circumferentially spaced-from the spokes.

6. A fabricated gear comprising: a rim; a tubular hub; means joining the rim and hub together in concentric relation to one another including, a web comprising a plurality of spokes generally transverse to the hub axis andbonded to both the rim and hub, and a plurality of substantially flat radial ribs intermediate the spokes and having their outer ends circumferentially spaced from the spokes, said ribs being bonded at their opposite 'ends to the rim'and hub with their flat sides parallel to the hub axis; and gear teeth on the rim. 7 1 r BURT E. HOOVER.

E REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Name Date Avery June 3, 1890 Harris et a1 Mar. 31, 1891 Kennedy Aug. 15, 1933 Short May 21, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany June 11, 1899 

